Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili awarded on Monday the National Hero of Georgia title to U.S. Senator John McCain.

McCain, along with Senators John Barrasso and John Thune, arrived in Georgia on Sunday. The award ceremony was held on Monday in the southwestern Georgian resort of Batumi.

"The fact that a part of Georgia is free today is the achievement of our friends. It was the idea of freedom that stopped [Russian] tanks in Georgia," Saakashvili said.

The U.S. senator, who repeatedly expressed his support for Georgia during and after its August 2008 military conflict with Russia, told Saakashvili by telephone on the day the ceasefire was agreed that "Today we are all Georgians."

He has already received an award of the Georgian Association in the United States for his backing for Tbilisi.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said McCain's visit demonstrated support for the country's sovereignty and independence.

Russia recognized the former Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states on August 26, 2008, two weeks after the end of a five-day military conflict that began when Georgian forces launched an attack on South Ossetia.

TBILISI, January 11 (RIA Novosti)